WASHINGTON, D.C.–If you’re a hunter or a fisherman, if the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) gets its way, you would no longer have lead bullets or lead weights. The EPA wants to put restrictions on ammo and tackle manufacturers that would force them to find other substances to make bullets and weights.
Mississippi’s senior senator, Thad Cochran, said Thursday that he’s co-sponsoring a bill that would stop the feds from making that change.
That’s the “Hunting, Fishing and Recreational Shooting Act”.
Bullets and weights have a long-standing exemption from regulation under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). S.1505 would confirm and clarify the regulatory exemptions already granted to traditional hunting ammunition and fishing tackle, according to a press release from Cochran’s office.
“I don’t see a need for the Environmental Protection Agency to develop costly, new regulations that would force ammunition and fishing gear manufacturers to completely alter how they do business,” said Cochran. “Such federal regulations would make hunting and fishing more expensive and compromise successful conservation programs—all without any scientific evidence that traditional ammunition poses an environmental threat.”
The group that is pressuring the EPA against lead bullets: the Center for Biological Diversity, a leading anti-hunting organization, and other groups.
The new bill would reinforce a state’s right to regulate ammo and tackle and the way they are used.
The Act was introduced by Senators John Thune (R-S.D.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.). This bill is supported by the National Rifle Association, Safari Club, Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, Wildlife Forever and other hunting and fishing groups.
